Acceptability and potential impact on perceived anxiety of a serious game about radiotherapy in children aged 5 to 14 years : A feasibility and randomized controlled pilot trial

• A web-based serious game was developed as psychological preparation for children who are going to undergo radiotherapy. The game was developed together with children with experience of radiotherapy. The study aimed to investigate the feasibility in terms of reach, usability, and acceptability, of a serious game about radiotherapy, and to evaluate whether it can decrease anxiety levels in children aged 5 to14 years undergoing radiotherapy. The study was designed as a randomized controlled pilot trial with predefined feasibility criteria. Twenty-eight children were assessed for eligibility and 23 were found to meet the inclusion criteria. They were consecutively randomized into one of two study arms. One child was excluded after randomization due to language difficulties. If randomized into Group 1, the children received the intervention (serious game) before treatment started. Children in Group 2 received the intervention after three days of treatment. Questionnaires with fixed answers were used to assess anxiety levels (an adapted version of STAIC) and experiences of gameplay (an adapted version of PENS). The predefined feasibility criterion that the children should play the game for 20 minutes or more was not met. The second criterion, that 70% or more of the participants should return all of the questionnaires was not met either, however, more than 80% returned the PENS questionnaires. All feasibility criteria set for the study were not meet, suggesting that adaptions need to be made if a future study is going to be undertaken. There was no indication that playing the serious game decreased the children’s stated anxiety. When combining the two groups, a pattern emerged that anxiety levels decreased over time. The PENS questionnaire adapted for children showed promising results regarding player satisfaction when using the serious game within healthcare. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT04728555

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Pediatrik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Pediatrics (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Tillämpad psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Applied Psychology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

anxiety

feasibility

pediatric oncology

psychological preparation

radiotherapy

RCT

serious game

Medicinsk vetenskap

Medical Science

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